Kona Hei Hei 18" circa 1998 frame

[Jones]

The one in my Hei Hei was built into the frame and the top of the seat tube and shim had obviously been faced in situ, there's no way it was removable :?

 

[stevek]

How was it built in? Bonded? I can't imagine why they'd fit a shim and not make it removable.

Maybe it was dissimilar metal corrosion and stuck in? :?

 

[Jones]

How was it built in? Bonded? I can't imagine why they'd fit a shim and not make it removable.

Maybe it was dissimilar metal corrosion and stuck in? :?

No it was definately bonded in and ran a looong way down into the seat tube, you had to look VERY hard to even notice the seat tube was lined with aluminium

Titanium is a very grabby material, so I'm assuming the seat tube is lined with aluminium to prevent seatposts sticking :?:

I had it from new so there was no chance of corrosion issues

 

[Tallpaul]

How was it built in? Bonded? I can't imagine why they'd fit a shim and not make it removable.

Maybe it was dissimilar metal corrosion and stuck in? :?

I presume it was press-fit? :?

It was the same on my Hei Hei. You couldn't just slide it out like, say, a USE seat-post shim.

 

[Jones]

How was it built in? Bonded? I can't imagine why they'd fit a shim and not make it removable.

Maybe it was dissimilar metal corrosion and stuck in? :?

I presume it was press-fit? :?

It was the same on my Hei Hei. You couldn't just slide it out like, say, a USE seat-post shim.

Your more than likely right, its probably pressed in interference fit and aluminium is soft enough that it would have probably been tight enough to stay put whilst being reamed out.

 

[stevek]

As Anthony has said it'd be pretty hard (?) to find 0.2 shim and this guy appears to be saying that he's changed the shim out. "Seat tube shimmed from 27.0 down to 26.8mm to give a wider selection of seat posts" so he's saying it now takes a smaller size pin hence a larger shim in there.

Unless the "shim" is a strip of coke tin in there!

 

[DM]

1997-ish frame with 1999 decals?

I've never noticed any seat-tube shim in mine; Shows you how much I know

 

[W W Biffta]

frame i got recently had a shim made of a stella can for just the same purpose, 27.0 to 26.8. apparently it did the job nicely but i gouged it out.

btw it wasnt a hei hei tho

 

[Anthony]

As Anthony has said it'd be pretty hard (?) to find 0.2 shim and this guy appears to be saying that he's changed the shim out. "Seat tube shimmed from 27.0 down to 26.8mm to give a wider selection of seat posts" so he's saying it now takes a smaller size pin hence a larger shim in there.

Unless the "shim" is a strip of coke tin in there!

If your KK is a 2000, it has a 34.9 seat tube, whereas Steve and Paul both have a 31.8 on their bikes. I don’t know the gauge in either case, but maybe a 31.8 tube needed to be strengthened by bonding in the shim, whereas the 34.9 is fundamentally stronger and didn't need that? Or could there still be a bonded-in shim plus a replaceable one as well, as (34.9 - 2 x c1mm) down to 27.0 would require quite a thick shim?

Anyway, as DM has pointed out, this eBay example is in fact a 1997 frame with 99 decals, so it has a seat tube like Steve's and Paul's.

 

[lumos2000]

how much! :shock: